Incubator shaker apparatus

ABSTRACT

An incubator shaker apparatus in which objects are shaken by rotary or reciprocating action within a bath with the drive means being external of movable means within the bath and with the movable means being drivingly connected to the external drive means through magnetic elements to eliminate a physical driving connection between the movable means and the external drive means. The invention also provides for improved means for controlling the level of the bath.

United States Patent Inventor Clyde S. Hermes, Ill

Schnecksville, Pa.

App]. No. 826,148

Filed May 20, 1969 Patented Aug. 24, 1971 Assignee New Brunswick Scientific Co., Inc.

New Brunswick, NJ.

INCUBATOR SHAKER APPARATUS 7 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 259/54, 137/579, 259/DIG. 46

Int. Cl B01! 9/00 Field olSearcli..... 259/108,

s4, s5, 56, s :55, if, 75193151, 91, 29, 36

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,556,854 6/l95l Spears H 259/8 X 3,184,222 5/1965 Aronowitz 259/54 3,220,704 11/1965 Phillips 259/54 X 3,430,926 3/1969 Freedman 259/54 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Jenkins A1lorneyBlum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan If; gt -iiefj 4; %?%;g* 3 45 44 t i 42x1; I /7 -5 l I J? i 27 26 H14. 5

PATENIEU AUB24I97I 3601.372

- lll/ //////j/I///// ATTonnvs PATENTEU AUG24I97I 3.601 372 sum 2 or 4 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS SUMMARY OF THE INENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention the objects being incubated within the bath are mounted on movable means which are externally driven in a manner which eliminates the necessity of a physical connection. By moving a magnetic field by the drive means, the movable means within the bath can be driven without a direct physical connection thereto. External means are also provided for controlling the level of fluid in the bath so that the incubated materials will not be contaminated by the bath during movement of objects within the bath.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide improved means for moving objects incubated in a bath.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved drive arrangement for driving a movable member within a bath without a physical connection between the external driving means and the movable member.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement for controlling the level of fluid in a bath.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts I which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an incubator shaker apparatus constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view, at an enlarged scale, taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a modified construction of the incubator shaker apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 7; v

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the driven disc of FIG. 8 showing alternate locations for the driving connection; and

FIG. 11 is a partial sectional view, at an enlarged scale, taken along line 1l-I1 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, a casing 11 is provided with a removable cover 12 to form the external housing for the shaker apparatus. The casing may be provided with feet 13 by which the apparatus may be mounted on a table or other receiving surface. Suspended within casing 11 is a fluid tight housing 14 closed on all sides except at the top. Cover 12 overfits housing 14 for access to the housing. Housing 14 is filled to a predetermined level with fluid 15.

A plate 16 extends across casing 11 below the bottom wall 17 of housing 14 and has secured thereto a collar 18 which supports bearings 19. Journaled in the bearings 19 is a shaft 21. To the outer end of shaft 21 is secured a pulley 22 driven through a belt 23 by a motor 24 mounted on plate 16. Also secured to shaft 21 is a drive disc 25 having a permanent magnet 26 secured to the face thereof with the face of the magnet being closely adjacent the external surface of bottom wall 17.

A bracket 27 is secured to plate 16 and supports housing 14 with bottom wall 17 in spaced relationship with respect to plate 16 and drive disc 25 and permanent magnet 26 is located within the space between plate 16 and bottom wall 17.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a triangular frame 28 overlies bottom wall 17 and is secured thereto by means of fasteners 29. As shown in FIG. 11, each fastener 29 preferably consists of a stud 31 welded to bottom wall 17. The stud passes through bracket 27 and is secured thereto by means of a nut 32. A screw 33 passes through frame 28 and threadedly engages a blind, threaded hole in stud 31 to thereby provide a fluid tight connection for mounting housing 14 and frame 28 within the casing.

A crank shaft 34 is journaled in suitable bearings 35 mounted within frame 28. Two crank shafts 36 are also journaled in bearings carried by frame 28. Mounted on crank shaft 35 is a driven disc 37 which has mounted to the lower face thereof permanent magnet 38. Permanent magnet 38 is disposed directly above permanent magnet 26 whereby the magnetic field caused by rotation of magnet 26 causes rotation of magnet 38 to thereby rotate crank shaft 34.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a triangular frame 39 has the eccentric crank portions of shaft 34 and 36 journaled therein in suitable bearings 41. Secured to frame 39 by screws 42 is a plate 43 which supports the objects in the fluid bath 15. Clips 44 may be secured to plate 43 for securely receiving flasks 45 which are to receive the material being incubated and shaken. With the apparatus described above, rotation of pulley 22 through motor 24 causes magnet 26 to be rotated to thereby set up a rotating magnet field which rotates magnet 38 without any physical connection therebetween. Seals about rotating shafts are thereby completely eliminated. The rotation of magnet 38 effects a rotation of crank shaft 34 to cause frame 39 to rotate in a circular or oscillatory path to thereby effect a shaking of the material in flasks 45. Crank shafts 36 act as idler shafts which have the same eccentric offset as shaft 34 thereby support frame 39 during its rotary motion. Plate 43 will be moved in a horizontal plane along an arcuate path to physically displace the plate along the plane. The limit of twodimensional displacement as seen in the FIG. 1 view is indicated by arrow 46.

Fluid bath 11 is utilized to control the temperature of the medium in flasks 45. The fluid will usually be water at a predetermined temperature and it may be desirable to circulate the water bath to maintain the proper temperature. It will be understood that, during the movement of the flasks, a substantial disturbance of the water will occur and care must be taken to control the level of the water bath to prevent water from splashing around to such a height as to permit it to enter the flasks as the water bath could contaminate the material in the flasks. Means must be provided for controlling the level of the bath and for changing the level for flasks, beakers, or other receptacles of different height. To this end, a wall 47 extends across housing 14 and terminates short of bottom wall 17 as shown in FIG. 1. As best seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 6, a collar 48 is secured to a sidewall of housing 14 and a tube 49 extends therefrom through which the fluid is drained or delivered for recirculation. A drain piece 51 is rotatably mounted within collar 48 and is sealed therein by suitable O-rings 52. Drain piece 51 is provided with a suitable passage 53 which communicates with tube 49 and also communicates with a tube 54 carried by drain piece 51. As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, a rod 55 is secured to drain piece 51 and extends upwardly beyond cover 12. The cover is provided with an elongated slot 56 having detentlike depressions along one wall thereof for resiliently receiving rod 54. Rod 54 is arranged so as to resiliently rest in the depressions to form a detent for the rod and the rod may be physically deflected so that it can be moved along the length of slot 56 to a variety of adjusted positions. Movement of the rod effects a rotation of drain piece 51 to change the level of the open end of tube 54 as shown in full and phantom lines in FIG. 4. In this manner, the level of the open end of tube 54 may be adjusted to thereby control the level of fluid in housing 14. During circulation of fluid in the housing, fluid will enter through entry port 58 and will exit through tube 49 to maintain the level of fluid in the housing at the level determined by the height of the open end oftube 54.

With slight modifications, the rotary action of plate 43 can be changed to reciprocating action by utilization of the structure shown in FIG. 7 through 10. A frame 61 carries a shaft 62 journaled therein by suitable bearings 63. Secured to shaft 62 is a driven disc 64 which has mounted thereon permanent magnet 65. Driven disc 64 is rotated through magnet 65 in the same manner as in the embodiment described in connection with FIG. 1. Frame 61 is provided with four upstanding walls 66 which act as guides for the reciprocating plate 43, as will now be described. A frame 67 underlies plate 43 and has depending therefrom four legs 68, with one leg 68 being proximate to each upstanding wall 66 as shown in FIG. 9. Mounted by means ofa suitable pin 69 to each leg 68 is a guide block 71 for guiding frame 67 at the four corners thereof during reciprocation along frame 61. Guide blocks 71 are preferably formed of a self-lubricating plastic material to reduce sliding friction.

A crank arm 72 is pivoted to frame 67 by means of the driven screw shaft 73 and is eccentrically pivoted to driven disc 64 by means ofa screw shaft 74. It will thus be understood that, as driven disc 64 is rotated as a result of rotation of drive disc 25, plate 43 will be reciprocated in the direction indicated by arrow 75 to thereby impart a reciprocating shaker action to material in flask 45. As shown in FIG. 10, driven disc 64 may be provided with a plurality of threaded bores 76 spaced at different distances from the center of rotation of the driven disc. By selection of the threaded bore 76 which receives screw shaft 74, the amplitude of reciprocation of plate 43 may be varied.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying nection therebetween, a support within said housing for carry ing materials to be shaken, a second frame within said housing, means cooperating between said support and said second frame for movably mounting said support within said housing,

and operating means interconnecting said support and said driven means for moving said support in response to movement of said driven means.

2. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said driving means includes a first shaft journaled in said frame and said driven means includes a second shaft journaled in said frame, the longitudinal axes of said first and second shafts being coaxial.

3. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said driving means includes a drive disc carried by said first shaft, said drive disc having a planar face, and wherein said driven means includes a driven disc carried by said second shaft, said driven disc having a planar face, the planes of said faces being perpendicular to'the coaxial longitudinal axes and being parallel, one to the other. I

4. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 3 and further including magnetic devices carried by the discs at the faces thereof.

5. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said operating means includes a crank portion formed on said second shaft and means journaling said crank portion in said support, and wherein said cooperating means includes at least one crank shaft journaled between said support and said second frame.

6. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said cooperating means includes linear limiting means for movably mounting said support for linear movement on said frame and wherein said operating means includes a crank arm, means pivoting said crank arm to said support and means pivoting said crank arm to said driven means, the axis of said last named means being parallel to and spaced from the longitudinal axis of said second shaft.

7. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further including a level control for the fluid in said housing including a drain piece rotatably mounted through a wall of said housing. the axis of rotation of said drain piece being substantially horizontal, said drain piece having a passage therethrough, a tube secured at one end to said drain piece and being free at the opposite end thereof, the passage of said tube communicating with said passage through said drain piece, and means for rotating said drain piece for controlling the height of said free end ofsaid tube above the bottom of said housing. 

1. A shaker apparatus comprising a frame, a fluid tight housing carried by said frame, driving magnetic field means movably mounted on said frame, motor means cooperating with said driving means for operating said driving means, driven magnetic field means movably mounted wholly within said housing, said driving and driven means being located so that the magnetic field of said driving means affects the magnetic field of said driven means without any physical interconnection therebetween, a support within said housing for carrying materials to be shaken, a second frame within said housing, means cooperating between said support and said second frame for movably mounting said support within said housing, and operating means interconnecting said support and said driven means for moving said support in response to movement of said driven means.
 2. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said driving means includes a first shaft journaled in said frame and said driven means includes a second shaft journaled in said frame, the longitudinal axes of said first and second shafts being coaxial.
 3. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said driving means includes a drive disc carried by said first shaft, said drive disc having a planar face, and wherein said driven means includes a driven disc carried by said second shaft, said driven disc having a planar face, the planes of said faces being perpendicular to the coaxial longitudinal axes and being parallel, one to the other.
 4. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 3 and further including magnetic devices carried by the discs at the faces thereof.
 5. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said operating means includes a crank portion formed on said second shaft and means journaling said crank portion in said support, and wherein said cooperating means includes at least one crank shaft journaled between said support and said second frame.
 6. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said cooperating means includes linear limiting means for movably mounting said support for linear movement on said frame and wherein said operating means includes a crank arm, means pivoting said crank arm to said support and means pivoting said crank arm to said driven means, the axis of said last named means being parallel to and spaced from the longitudinal axis of said second shaft.
 7. A shaker apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further including a level control for the fluid in said housing including a drain piece rotatably mounted through a wall of said housing, the axis of rotation of said drain piece being substantially horizontal, said drain piece having a passage therethrough, a tube secured at one end to said drain piece and being free at the opposite end thereof, the passage of said tube communicating with said passage through said drain piece, and means for rotating said drain piece for controlling the height of said free end of said tube above the bottom of said housing. 